The present invention relates to the field of image input/output peripheral devices and, more particularly, is directed to an improved device which is highly portable.
A number of peripheral devices are presently known in the prior art for printing image patterns such as characters and graphical information. Such devices include dot matrix printers, fully formed character printers and the like. These printers are, in most cases, designed to print on standard recording paper. A problem is presented, however, where printing is required on a non-standard recording surface such as small and large size paper, an open page of a notebook or the surface of a wall or box. Moreover, in conventional printers, it is not readily possible to change the direction that the recording paper feeds through the printer. Thus, it is difficult to print characters in more than one orientation on the recording paper without special, and often complicated, control circuitry. It is also difficult to print undistorted images on the recording paper on an incline with respect to the normal direction of paper feed through the printer.
A number of peripheral devices are also known in the art for reading image patterns, such as characters and graphical information, and providing the read data to, for example, a computer system for processing and storage. Among these devices are moveable hand scanners for reading coded images. One example of a conventional hand scanner is the well known bar code reader used to read coded information from a series of spaced bars. Another example is the OCR scanner often used to read sales tickets in large stores. Data produced by the scanner is supplied to an image recognition device for recognizing the particular character or pattern. A further example of a moveable scanner is the "self-running facsimile scanner disclosed at pages 17-19 of the Journal of the Institute of Image Electronic Engineers of Japan, Vol. 8, No. 1. This scanner includes an electric motor which moves an image sensor at a uniform speed over a desired image.
Conventional scanning input devices, such as those described above, have many of the same drawbacks and deficiencies as conventional output devices also described above. One of the chief deficiencies of movable hand scanners is that they must be moved at a constant scanning speed to achieve reliable results. Hand operated bar code readers, in particular, are notoriously well known for their sensitivity to variations in scanning speed. It has proved difficult for users to learn the required technique for efficient and reliable use of such devices.